Two days with João Nicolau de Almeida

It is no secret that I always have been very fond of the Portuguese producer of Port and Douro wine, Ramos Pinto. I love the fascinating story of how they – since the days of the founder Adriano Ramos Pinto – have combined art and culture with winemaking. Just look at all the beautiful posters or the tiles (azulejos) in their interesting museum in Vila Nova de Gaia.

Recently the General Manager of Ramos Pinto, João Nicolau de Almeida, spent a couple of days in Denmark. First he gave a tasting of wine and port at Henrik Oldenburgs Port Festival at Börsen in Copenhagen, and the day after he was invited as guest at a tasting in The Vintage Port Club in Odense – a special tasting of Vintage 1983, both single grape variations and the final blend. Two days of learning from all the experience and knowledge that João Nicolau de Almeida has gained during his nearly 40 years at Ramos Pinto.

At the first day João paid attention to Duas Quintas the still wine brand that celebrates its 25 years anniversary this year. The two quintas are Quinta dos Bons Ares and Quinta de Ervamoira both in Douro Superior, but the first in higher altitude with cooler climate than the hot Ervamoira. The soil is different as well, the former with a lot of granite and the latter with mostly schist. These differences are the reason why grapes from the two quintas complement each other and make a great blend of freshness and maturity.   

João told us as well about the research he did in the grape varieties in the Douro late in the seventies and beginning of the eighties. When he came back from his studies in Bordeaux, he was challenged by his uncle, José António Rosas, who wanted to replant Quinta de Ervamoira, which he bought shortly after the revolution in 1974. Together they planted different grape varieties and studied them, and João insisted that they researched in both grapes for port production and for table wine. No wonder, because besides being educated in Bordeaux he is the son of Fernando Nicolau de Almeida – the pioneer when it comes to making still wine of quality in the Douro with the legendary Barca Velha.

The result of the studies in rootstocks, varieties, vineyards and vinification was that five varieties were recommended: Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Franca, Touriga Nacional and Tinta Cão. During the years with research Ramos Pinto made different examples of single grape variety port from the Vintage in 1983, and that was precisely what was on the menu for the tasting the next day in The Vintage Port Club, combined with older and younger vintages. Here João kindly told us about the different varieties and their contribution to the final blend, and about how the research made it possible for the winemakers to make the right blend vintage after vintage.

During the two days the following wines were tasted.

Duas Quintas White Reserva 2014

Blend of Rabigato, Viosinho, Arinto and Folgazão. Very bright, green yellow. Green apples and citrus in the nose combined with more tropical notes. Full bodied with a nice structure and a good combination of fruitiness and minerals. Harmonious and with a good aftertaste.

Duas Quintas Red 2013

Blend of 43 % Touriga Nacional, 37 % Touriga Franca and 20 % other Douro varieties. Dark red and ruby. Blackberry and other dark berries, spicy. Powerful and deep with a lot of clean fruit and good tannins. A fine spicy finish.

Duas Quintas Red Reserva 2011

Blend of 50 % Touriga Nacional, 40 % Touriga Franca and 10 % Tinta Barca. Same character, but with more maturity, elegance and complexity. Dark berries and plums. Soft and velvet in the mouth, but powerful and with great tannins. Notes from the 18 months in cask, but well balanced. A great wine from a great vintage.

LBV 2011

Dark ruby. Fresh fruit, blackcurrant and spices. Still young and powerful as the vintage in general, but drinkable anyway. The LBVs from Ramos Pinto are among my favourites.

10 Years Tawny

Dark red, brown. Still with some fruit in the nose, but with notes from the cask as well like dried fruits and almonds. Nice, fresh and with a good balance. 

20 Years Tawny

Dark brown. Very intense in the nose and mouth with figs, raisins and almonds. Creamy and full bodied with a long, nice aftertaste. Very well balanced.

Vintage 1983

A scary nose, but not directly corked, and it seemed to fade slowly. Strawberry and other red berries in the nose. Still with both fruit and acidity, but odd and not in harmony. Did not perform well this day compared with the following day. Perhaps the bottles should have been opened and decanted earlier.

Tinta Barroca 1983

Dark ruby, clear. A little sharpness in the nose. Still with fruit and berries. Full bodied and soft, a little sweat, but also with spices and pepper. Soft tannins.

Tinta Roriz 1983

Bright, red brown. Not clear. A fine nose with red delicate berries. Tasting ok, but light and lacking acidity and tannins.  

Tinta Franca 1983

Ruby with brown rim. Discrete in the nose, but some dark berries and floral notes. More acidity and still powerful, but not in harmony.

Touriga Nacional 1983

Dark ruby, with a bit of purple. Dark berries like blackcurrant. A lot of fruit and with good depth and a fine structure. Intense and nicely spiced.

Ramos Pinto Vintage 1983

Blend of 50 % Tinta Barroca, 30 % Tinta Franca, 10 % Touriga Nacional and 10 % Tinta Roriz. Dark ruby. A beautiful nose with strawberry, cherry and darker berries too. Nice balanced with acidity, fruit and integrated tannins. A good tail. A wonderful, mature port to be drunk now, but can last as well.

Quinta da Ervamoira Vintage 2002

Blend of 40 % Touriga Nacional, 30 % Tinta Franca and 30 % Tinta Barroca. Dark ruby with purple rim. Very closed in the nose and when it comes to taste too. Fruity with some blackcurrant. Powerful, but with soft tannins. Short. Needs time.

Ramos Pinto Vintage 2000

Blend of 50 % Touriga Nacional, 40 % Tinta Franca and 10 % Tinta da Barca. Dark ruby. Some fruit gum in the nose at the beginning, but it slowly disappeared after some time. Closed, but with red berries, a lot of acidity and tannins. Not ready at all.

Ramos Pinto Vintage 1994

Blend of 40 % Tinta Franca, 30 % Touriga Nacional and 30 % Tinta Barroca. Ruby and clear. A nice bouquet, but perhaps a bit scented. Red berries and floral notes. Still a bit closed with lots of fruit and tannins. Will develop further.

Quinta da Ervamoira Vintage 1994

Blend of 60 % Touriga Nacional and 40 % Tinta Barroca. Ruby. Nice and elegant with berries and floral notes and soft tannins. Drinkable right now, but can still last.

Ramos Pinto Vintage 1982

Blend of 70 % Tinta Barroca and 30 % grapes from vinhas velhas. Dark ruby. An unpleasant smell of rot and acetone, but some fruits and plums too. Faulty.

Ramos Pinto Vintage 1970

Tawny and bright. A bit disappointing in the colour, but with a pleasant nose and an excellent taste. Cherry and other red berries. Soft, silky and elegant with a good combination of fruit and sweet spices. A great mature port.

Ramos Pinto Vintage 1950

Brown and not clear. Dried fruits and caramel in the nose. Oxidated like a tawny. Not in harmony. Variation between the two bottles, and the other one was better.

Cristiano van Zeller at Børsen

Cristiano van Zeller is a big guy himself – and so are his wines. He is one of the famous Douro Boys – the five producers from Douro (Quinta do Crasto, Niepoort, Quinta do Vallado, Quinta Vale Meão and Zellers own Quinta Vale de Maria) – who joined forces to inspire each other and brand their still wines from the Douro. They all produce Port as well, but for the Douro Boys the fortified wines are second to still wines from Douro DOC or the broader Duriense VR.

Some weeks ago Cristiano van Zeller visited Denmark for at tasting of his wines at the Port festival at Børsen in Copenhagen. The tasting for press and members of Port Clubs included 24 different wines – 15 of them still wines, the rest Port. But first Cristiano told us about himself and his view of the changes in the Douro.
The Van Zeller family arrived to Portugal in the 18th century and started as port shippers in 1780. The family was connected to the famous Quinta do Noval, but both Noval and the company; Van Zeller & Co. was sold in 1993. Later the brothers Fernando and Álvaro van Zeller founded Barão de Vilar and their cousin Cristiano started to work with the Roquettes from Quinta do Crasto and other of the member of the Douro Boys. In 1996 he took over Quinta Vale de Maria, which has been in the hands of his wife’s family, and after a renovation the production of both still wine and Port started. In 2006 the family bought back the old trading company as well.
The Quinta still uses lagares for the best grapes, and Cristiano told; that they soon will build some new ones instead of steel tanks. It is sort of back to basis, but with the important difference, that the modern granite lagares has temperature control as well. Another new-old trend is planting different grape varieties in the same field. These mixed fields with many varieties dominated the Douro before, but later most producers planted the five big varieties (Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Cão and Tinta Barroca) in different fields. Recently producers are going back to mixed fields, and not only with the big five, but with different varieties as well. The result is better, is the saying, and it seems like the different varieties are communicating concerning time of maturity etc. Off course the terroir of the different fields is important, and that is why Cristiano van Zeller has started a production of wines from single vineyards.

The tasting at Børsen included both white wine, red wine and Port. Here are some notes.
Rufo Branco 2013: A very fresh and straight white with fine acidity
VZ Branco 2003: Made of a blend of Viosinho, Rabigato, Codega and Gouveio, less acidity, heavier and with notes from the cask, but still balanced. A more complex wine in a burgundy style.
Van Zellers CV 2011 and 2012: A wonderful wine with a great structure. Deep and intense with dark berries, cherries and floral notes, some spices and tannins for at long life.
Vinha do Rio 2012: A single vineyard wine from a field close to the river Torto. A nice nose with dark cherries and on the palate raspberry, fruit and soft tannins.
Vinha Francisca 2011: Another single vineyard wine, named after Cristianos daughter. A bit shy in the nose, but elegant with fresh fruit and strong tannins.
Quinta Vale D. Maria 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012: A nice, fresh and elegant wine with dark fruit and cherries and a nice balance. 2009 was closed, but 2007 was very drinkable and with a great structure and a long finish.
After these wines followed a lecture in different vinification processes. We had three different versions of Touriga Franca, harvested at the same time in 2013, but the first from steel tank, the second from a lagar and the third fortified. They were similar and different at the same time. The first one had green tannins and was a bit sharper in the nose, the second was more open, more concentrated and with softer tannins. The Port version was so to speak a fortified version of the second cask-sample.
Finally we had some different Ports. Reserve Ruby and LBV are both unfiltered and with nice fruit and body. They were followed by Vintage 2003, 2009 and 2011. The oldest one was beginning to soften up, an elegant wine with dark, ripe fruit and soft tannins. The two youngsters were powerful with a lot of fresh fruit and dark berries, immature but with elegance as well.
The last couple of glasses were two colheitas from Van Zeller & Co. made in cooperation with the cousins. 1970 was intense and in fine balance, a nose with dry fruit and figs. 1997 was a bit anonymous compared to the older one, but with notes of nuts and orange.

You can read more about Cristiano van Zeller and Quinta Vale de Maria here

The 30th Regatta de Barcos Rabelos

A few days after the Enthronement Ceremony the Confraria de Vinho do Porto had their traditionally regatta in the Douro. The old Barcos Rabelos – the boats that used to sail the port pipes down to Vila Nova de Gaia from the Quintas in the Douro – were sailing from the mouth of the river to the finish line in front of the port lodges.

16 boats were participating this year. I was lucky to get invited by Ramos Pinto to be on board of Confrarias boat that followed the Rabelos during the race. Soon the Rabelos of Cockburn, Cálem, Offley and Taylor were in the lead, but at the goal “Quinta dos Canais” from Cockburn with Mestre Luís Martins as the captain was a clear winner, followed by “Quinta do Foz” from Sogevinus and Infanta D. Isabel from Rozès.

 The winner, “Quinta dos Canais” from Cockburn

But as David Guimaraens from Fladgate explained me the regatta is more fun than a serious race. The same point was made by George Thomas David Sandeman, who after the regatta, where the boat from Sandeman fished last, said with a big smile: “Everyone can win, but it takes more effort to finish last. And remember, that it is told in the Bible that the last will be the first”.

Yes, it is a funny event. And it sure is a beautiful sight when the Rabelos are coming up the Douro with their sail raised. And I must admit that it was lovely to spend the afternoon at Confrarias boat with good serving and port tonics.

Ramos Pinto, who invited me on board, doesn’t have a boat in the race themselves. And as João Machete Pereira explained to me, it is too expensive to buy a new Barco Rabelo just for that event.

On board of Confrarias boat together with the  

Fiel das Usancas of the Chanceleiro, 

Manuel Maria Matos de Magalhães Ferreira.

Winemakers Dinner with Crasto

It is a privilege to taste wine with the people who are creating it. That is why the annual Winemakers Dinner in The Vintage Port Club is so exciting. A huge tasting of port presented by a winemaker and followed by a very delicious dinner with wines from the Douro.

Recently it was head winemaker Manuel Lobo de Vasconcellos from Quinta do Crasto who came to Denmark and visited us. Crasto are making both table wines and port, and because of that the tasting started with two red wines, Touriga Nacional 1996 and 2010. The 1996 was aged well with brown rim. Nice fruits and acid, tannins still present but not strong. A fine and well balanced wine. The younger had a bit more minerals and harder tannins, but I am sure that it will develop well too. Later during the dinner we tried another single grape wine from Crasto, the Tinta Roriz 2009, which performed well to the serving.  

As the first port, we were served Crastos Finest Reserve – a fresh and straight ruby with three years in cask. It is a new product from the company which only used to make LBV and vintage. One of the better rubies for the broad marked.

The next flight was an interesting comparison of LBV and Vintage from 1994. Both were nice, but the Vintage had more fresh fruit and a broader pallet. It sure will develop further.

Another uneven flight followed. Vintage 1987, Vintage 1963 and Colheita 1910 – what a span! The two last were from grapes from the same vineyards, but bottled under the label Constantino. The brand was founded back in 1877 by Constantino de Almeida, who bought the Quinta in 1910. In 1981 the Roquettes overtook the Quinta and they still run it today.

1987 was clear red with red berries in the nose. It had a lot of acid, but a jammy taste. 1963 was the peak of the evening. The colour was now mahogany and it had a hint of raspberry and other red berries, good acid to balance the impressive fruit. It ended with a long, elegant tail. A wine in perfect balance, which can compete with wines from the big companies.     

The contrast to the next wine was huge. It was dark brown and very cloudy. An expressive nose with caramel, figs and balsamic. Still very powerful and concentrated with some brown sugar, tree and figs. The 1910 was the only cask aged port in the tasting, but it represented them well.

Now the tasting turned upside down. It was time for vintage from 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2009 – a short span with some very young wines.

1997 was a disappointment. It was not corked, but must have been a bad bottle. A scary nose, too much alcohol and very bitter. .

The years to follow were both broadly declared years like 2000, 2003 and 2007 and minor years like 2001 and 2004. Surprisingly the minor years performed better. As Manuel Lobo told us, it is sometimes like that for Single Quintas. They don’t have a lot of vineyards form different locations in the Douro to choose from when they are blending. That means that they are more dependent on the weather and the harvest. A year that is generally a good vintage with many declarations is not automatically a good vintage for a Single Quinta like Crasto. Perhaps the next year is better.

That was exactly my opinion when I compared 2001 with the millennium year 2000. 2001 was not that expressive in the nose, but it had more fruit and tannins - and a bigger potential. The same was the case with 2003 compared to 2004. The former was drinkable now if you like young, fresh vintages. The latter was more closed but again with a better structure and a bigger potential in the long term.

At last I will mention the 2009 – a very nice and tempting nose even if it was so young. I am looking forward to taste it again in some years.

Quinta do Crasto and Manuel Lobo succeeded in convincing us that Crasto are making long lasting vintages of good quality. It is said that they have more passion for winemaking than port. If that is true, it is more a question of quantity than quality. They have a lot of declarations but besides the 1997 none of them failed. As Manuel Lobo explained the future sure will bring better quality due to the development in the vineyard and in the winemaking process. Generally we will have better port, but there differences between the vintages will remain.  

After this huge tasting follow a wonderful dinner created by Chef Klavs Styrbæk at Restaurant Kvægtorvet (The Cattle Marked) in Odense and his staff. The menu and the wines are listed below. Let me just remark the Colheita 1997 which Manuel Lobo brought in his suitcase. It was just bottled before he departed and it was the first time it was served outside Quinta do Crasto. Colheita is new marked for Crasto. They intend to release the 1997 later this year and more will follow. How was it? Still young, fresh in the nose and with a lot of fruit. Promising, but in my opinion worth further storing in casks. But I am thankful that Crasto in the future will add another product to their pallet.

Menu:

Norway Lobster, Jerusalem Artichoke, Lemon, Ginger

Codfish, Mustard-Caper Sauce, Beetroot, Chips

Grilled Leek, Oyster, Parsley, Onion, Vinaigrette, Brioche

Portbraised Wild Boar, Parsnip, Bacon, Horseradish

Grilled Wild Boar, Hazelnuts, Salsify, Thyme, Shallots

Cheese Selection - Sheep, Goat, Cow and Olives, Figs

Chocolate, Crumble, Sauce

Fennel Sorbet, Liquorice Cake, Pear, Tarragon

Oatmeal Ice-cream, Malt Whisky, Caramel, Guinness Foam

Orange Jelly, Jasmine Tea, Orange Oil, Mint

Wines:

Esporão Espumante

Quinta do Crasto White

Quinta do Crasto Superior

Quinta do Crasto Reserva 2010

Quinta do Crasto Tinta Roriz 2009

Quinta do Crasto LBV 2007

Quinta do Crasto Finest Reserve

Quinta do Crasto Colheita 1997

http://www.quintadocrasto.pt/